BLACK HILLS REGION, S.D. – Many folks have a three day weekend in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day! And it will be a good day to stay inside and stay warm. The National Weather Service has issued an Extreme Cold Warning for portions of western South Dakota and northeast Wyoming. Wind chills are expected to be as low as -45° especially in the Northen Hills. Other offices have followed suit with Extreme cold Warnings covering most of the Northern Plains.

This extreme cold is unusual and potentially dangerous, with the National Weather Service forecasting “the coldest wind chill readings of this outbreak”. The Extreme Cold Warning for our region is in effect from 7pm this evening to 11am tomorrow, with a Cold Weather Advisory until 8am Tuesday.

Expect a high around 9°F in Rapid City with an overnight low of -14°F. Wind chills will bottom out around -30°F just after sunrise. The Deadwood area will see similar conditions, with an overnight low around -19°F and wind chills potentially plummeting to -45°F or even lower! Winds will be relatively calm tonight at 5 to 10 mph but will pick up to 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph by tomorrow morning. This is why the wind chill will be coldest around sunrise rather than in the midnight hours.

There is still some slight flurries falling over northeastern Wyoming, which could lead to icy and partially snow-covered roads, but things will be clear by this evening. Clear skies at night typically help cool temperatures even further, because the surface of the Earth radiates off infrared radiation into space, which is a loss of energy and causes temperature to fall. With no sunshine to replenish that energy and no cloud cover to keep it from escaping, we’re going to cool off quite a bit.

It’s important to remember that frostbite can occur quickly in extreme cold, and with wind chills, it can happen even faster. According to University of Colorado Health, when the temperature is 5°F and the wind speed is 30 mph, frostbite can develop in just 30 minutes. At -5°F with the same wind speed, it may set in within 10 minutes. With wind chills expected to reach -45°F in some areas, frostbite can occur on exposed skin even sooner. Symptoms of frostbite usually begin with the affected parts feeling cold and painful. If exposure to the cold continues, you may feel pins and needles before the area becomes numb as the tissues freeze. If you think you or someone else may have frostbite, seek immediate medical attention.

We should see some relief on Tuesday with temperatures warming back up to the low 30s under partly to mostly cloudy skies. The next clipper type system will bring low chances for light snow Tuesday night through Wednesday night along with breezy to windy northwest winds.

Rapid City 7 Day

Per grew up in Sioux Falls and graduated from South Dakota Mines. He found his passion for weather reporting by the impact it has on the community, both in how people work and how it brings people together through severe weather preparation. He also has a passion for preventing health issues with Air Quality Index awareness. Per can be found enjoying outdoor activities in the Black Hills when the weather allows.

Resolution sponsor argues out-of-state donors are shaping South Dakota elections; Opponents say campaign finance reform is the answer

PIERRE — Lawmakers are considering a resolution that would start the process of making it more difficult for voters to pass a constitutional amendment in South Dakota.

The State House Affairs Committee heard testimony on House Joint Resolution 5003, a bill that would ask voters during the next general election whether to change the votes needed to pass a constitutional amendment from a simple majority to a 60% threshold.

The joint resolution was amended to the 60% figure at the start of the bill’s hearing on Friday. The prime sponsor of the bill, Republican Rep. John Hughes of Sioux Falls, had initially suggested a two-thirds majority in the initial version of his legislation.

The committee passed the resolution on an 11-2 vote, sending it to the full House for consideration.

Out-of-state interests have undue influence on South Dakota elections, resolution sponsor says

Hughes argued South Dakota has become a “convergence point for out-of-state interests to take advantage and exploit” the state’s simple majority requirement to pass constitutional amendments.

The Sioux Falls lawmaker referenced several large donations made in the weeks before the 2024 general election to Dakotans for Health, a group pushing to enshrine the right to abortion in the South Dakota Constitution — though Hughes did not directly name the group or the ballot question in his statements.

Hughes pointed to a $500,000 donation made by Think Big America, a nonprofit backed by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, in October.

Pritzker made another donation of $250,000 to Dakotans for Health on Nov. 1, according to a report filed with the South Dakota Secretary of State.

Another group backed by conservative activist Leonard Leo later matched the Pritzker nonprofit’s donation with a $500,000 that went to No G for SD, a ballot question committee. That money went to pay for ads opposing Constitutional Amendment G, which was rejected by 59% of South Dakota voters in the election.

“We have big checks coming in: $100,000 from a guy in California, $500,000 from the governor of Illinois. What on earth is the governor of Illinois doing to shape and mold the political and social values of South Dakota?” said Hughes, who failed to mention Leo’s large donation.

South Dakota law allows ballot question committees, or groups with a position on a specific ballot question, to receive unlimited amounts of money from individuals, political action committees, political parties, entities and other ballot question committees.

Nathan Sanderson, executive director of the South Dakota Retailers Association, spoke in support of the resolution, saying amending the constitution “should be more difficult” than amending a statute. Sanderson led the effort to oppose Initiated Measure 28, which was sponsored by Dakotans for Health co-founder Rick Weiland.

But opponents contend the change would actually work to the benefit of wealthy groups and individuals.

Opponents: Reforms to campaign finance laws, not majority requirements, is needed

Chase Jensen, a lobbyist for Dakota Rural Action, told the committee he agreed with Hughes on part of his testimony, particularly regarding the influence of out-of-state money in the state’s elections.

But he argued the state’s campaign finance laws need to be reformed, specifically when it comes to how outside money is allowed to be brought into state elections, rather than “changing the power of the people.”

During the recent election, only one out of seven ballot questions passed the simple majority threshold (50% plus one vote).

Constitutional Amendment F, which proposed to enforce work requirements on individuals who apply for expanded Medicaid benefits, passed with 56% of votes in November.

Jensen said raising the bar would only make it more difficult for legislators and citizens to pass constitutional amendments in the future.

“With the unprecedented concentration of wealth in our society, in our politics today, we believe raising the threshold of votes wouldn’t deter out of state money. It would only open the tap even further,” Jensen said.

Zebediah Johnson, a lobbyist for the Voter Defense Association of South Dakota, told the Argus Leader the majority of constitutional amendments proposed over the last two decades have been referred to voters by legislators.

South Dakota’s early populist movement adopted the initiative and popular referendum process into the South Dakota Constitution in 1898, becoming the first state in the U.S. to do so.

“There is no need for South Dakota, which created the American ballot initiative, to deviate from the norm in such an extreme manner,” Johnson said.

South Dakota voters have a recent history of rejecting changes to the state’s majority requirements.

In 2018, South Dakotans considered Amendment X, which proposed to raise the vote threshold to 55%. That failed after only receiving 46% of the vote.

Voters also rejected Amendment C in 2022, which would have required any future ballot measure that increases taxes, or spends $10 million over five years, to pass by at least 60%. This proposed change was also defeated after only receiving 33% of votes.

BROOKINGS — Saturday’s Summit League battle between South Dakota State and Oral Roberts pitted two of the conference’s best and most exciting players against one another, and Isaac McBride of ORU and the Jackrabbits’ Oscar Cluff offered signature performances.

But it was Cluff and SDSU that came away victorious, with the Jackrabbits controlling the action most of the day in an 84-70 win in front of a matinee crowd of 3,681 at First Bank & Trust Arena.

It was SDSU’s second straight win after two straight losses, and Cluff’s very big fingerprints were all over it.

The 6-foot-11 Aussie scored 21 points on 11 shots while grabbing a career-high 20 rebounds and dishing a team-high four assists, continuing to establish himself as one of the premier bigs in the country.

“He gave us a great boost,” said freshman guard Owen Larson, who had 10 points and five rebounds. “Really brought the energy from the get-go, rebounded at a high level and when he does that it gets the rest of us going.”

The Jacks scored the first nine points of the game but ORU quickly fought back, using a 14-2 run to take a three-point lead which would be their biggest of the day. The teams mostly traded blows the rest of the first half before a strong finish allowed SDSU to take a 41-35 lead into the break. They quickly pushed the advantage into double digits early in the second, and ORU never got closer than eight after that.

Joe Sayler had 17 points for the Jacks (12-8, 3-2), while Matthew Mors and Kalen Garry had 11 apiece.

Meanwhile McBride was outstanding for the Golden Eagles (5-13, 1-4), scoring a game-high 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting, though Jacks coach Eric Henderson said his team defended him well enough.

“It was just a matter of time before he hit some shots,” Henderson said of the preseason conference player of the year. “I know he had 26 but I thought he earned all of ’em. He’s just a terrific player. He’s gonna get shots. You can’t take all of his stuff away. Our effort was pretty good.”

Matt Zimmer is a Sioux Falls native and longtime sports writer. He graduated from Washington High School where he played football, legion baseball and developed his lifelong love of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. After graduating from St. Cloud State University, he returned to Sioux Falls, and began a long career in amateur baseball and sports reporting. Email Matt at mzimmer@siouxfallslive.com.